Dying for a Kidney -- Petition Drive ... 8th leading cause of death, killing over 90,000 Americans every year. PLEASE review this short presentation and sign this petition to explore ways that we can compensate eligible living donors to save lives and help curb our "out-of-control" healthcare costs. Please forward to other interested parties.

1. Dying for a Kidney
Help Save Lives by Signing this petition now!

2. Quick Facts
 1 in 3 American adults are currently at risk for developing
kidney disease. The risk increases to 1 in 2 over the
course of a lifetime.
 An estimated 31 million people (10% of U.S. population)
have chronic kidney disease (CKD).
 Kidney disease is the 8th leading cause of death in the
United States…killing over 90,000 Americans every year –
more than breast and prostate cancer combined.
 Every day 14 - 30 people die waiting for a kidney.
Primary Source: American Kidney Fund … http://www.kidneyfund.org/about-us/assets/pdfs/akf-kidneydiseasestatistics-2012.pdf

3. The End Result…
 End stage renal disease (ESRD) is the last stage of CKD
and is the time when dialysis or transplant is needed to
stay alive.
 Of 120,000 Americans currently on the waiting list for a
lifesaving organ transplant, more than 100,000 need a
kidney (84%) but fewer than 17,000 people receive one each
year.
 Approximately 430,000 Americans are currently on dialysis.
Without a transplant, they have an average life expectancy
of about five years. The longer they are on dialysis…the
less likely a subsequent transplant will be successful.
 Approximately 185,000 lucky individuals are alive today
thanks to receiving a functioning kidney transplant.

5.  Dialysis only performs about 10% of the work done by
a functioning kidney
 Dialysis can frequently cause other complications –
anemia, bone disease, high blood pressure, heart
disease, nerve damage and/or infection
 Studies show that the longer a patient is on
dialysis…the weaker they become and the more likely
an eventual kidney transplant will fail
 Average Life Expectancy for a patient on dialysis is
five years
http://www.bidmc.org/Centers-and-Departments/Departments/Transplant-Institute/Kidney/The-Benefits-of-Transplant-versus-Dialysis.aspx

6.  No one lives forever…but if you have a terminal kidney
disease, a transplant is your best chance for survival
and to lead a normal life
 Transplant patients can expect to add 8-20 years to their
life span
 Patients who receive a kidney transplant BEFORE
dialysis can expect to live 10-15 years longer than if they
relied on dialysis only
 Adults as old as 75 gain an average of four more years
after a transplant than if they had relied only on dialysis
 Total transplant costs averaged over the remaining life
of the patient are considerably lower than dialysis costs
http://www.bidmc.org/Centers-and-Departments/Departments/Transplant-Institute/Kidney/The-Benefits-of-Transplant-versus-Dialysis.aspx

7.  A kidney transplant is usually a better option
than dialysis. A deceased organ transplant can
be a life-saving event.
 It will improve the recipient’s quality of life as
well as extend their expected lifetime.
 Persons who have had to wait for a transplant
on dialysis for two years are THREE TIMES
more likely to lose their transplanted kidney than
those patients who had to wait less than 6
months on dialysis. Time is of the essence.

8.  Living Donor Transplant Recipients tend to live
longer than those persons receiving a deceased
donor transplant.
 Having a family member or friend donating a kidney
in your behalf may allow you to avoid the wait list
…this has two advantages
 Having surgery sooner than later improves your success rate
 Avoiding dialysis also improves your success rate
 Having a living donor kidney volunteer (even if not
a match for you) could enable you to benefit from a
kidney chain swap

9. 106,566 Candidates On Kidney
Wait List – 2013 Outcomes…

10. 2013 Kidney Transplant Facts
• Deceased Donors
– 11,161 kidneys from
7,546 actual donors
– 1.48 kidney per donor
– Over 100 Million citizens
registered as organ
donor candidates
– Of 2.5 million who died
in 2013…less than 1%
became an actual
deceased organ donor!
• Living Donors
– 5,733 kidneys
– 83% donations from
family/spouse/friend
– 60% Male/40% Female
– 50% Age 50 & up
– Living donor trend has
declined over last 8
years even though
some states offer tax
credits/deductions or
leave of absence

11. Let’s Declare War on Kidney
Disease!
Years Major War U.S. Deaths
1917 - 1918 World War I 116,516
1941 - 1945 World War II 405,399
1950 - 1953 Korean War 36,516
1955 - 1975 Vietnam War 58,209
2001 - Present Iraq / Afghanistan 6,717
623,357
3 Times Higher than all U.S. War Deaths in last 100 years!
1980 - Present War on Kidney Disease 1,900,992
Sources: http://www.usrds.org/2013/ref/H_mortality_13.xls
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_military_casualties_of_war

12. Organ Gap Waiting List Grows

13. We Have A Great Medical Staff …
• 235+ U.S. Hospitals perform Kidney
transplants
• Kidney transplant is one of the most cost-
effective surgery interventions available
• Primary Medicare Cost for transplant
through one year post-transplant is
comparable to one year cost of dialysis
• Our hospitals are operating UNDER
capacity…they need MORE organ donors!

14. No Shortage of Valuable Resources

15. Best Network of Support
Organizations Anywhere
• The U.S. has the infrastructure and the
staff and the capacity to perform all of the
transplants needed
• We continue to make medical advances in
our procedures and techniques
• We fail, however, in having an adequate
supply of organ transplant volunteer
donors (both living and deceased)!

16. PLEASE sign this petition to explore ways that
we can compensate eligible living donors to save
lives and help curb our “out-of-control”
healthcare costs.
Click Here to Sign Petition
Kidney transplants and dialysis treatments are not
cheap…but the alternative is usually an early death to a
loved one or friend…the choice is yours…please vote.

17. You Did Make A Difference…
Thanks for your support!
Please pass this presentation along to
others who might also support this
important initiative.